A Stranger Among Friends
by cherryblossomed
Summary: When a stranger is rescued and brought back to Konohagakure, how will her presence change the lives of our favorite heroes? Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

When a stranger is rescued and brought back to Konohagakure, how will her presence change the lives of our favorite heroes?

**A STRANGER AMONG FRIENDS**

**Chapter 1: Better Than Before**

_Why does my head feel so fuzzy? _I tried to open my eyes toward the brightness that seemed to come from nowhere, but to no avail. _What's wrong with me? _I tried to cover my closed eyes with my palm, but my hands wouldn't move. _Okay, don't panic. Breathe. Focus. _As I tried to relax and focus on each individual breath, the sounds of the world around me began to make themselves known.

Voices in the distance, indistinct at first, but present, seemed to come closer and slowly become clearer to my ears. _Damn, this annoying. What is going on? Why can't I move? Why can't I open my eyes? Hey! Why can't I speak!?! _I lay…somewhere…trying to force sound from my mouth, a mouth that does not seem to want to open. With some effort I manage to push out a low moan in the hopes that someone is nearby.

"Go get Sakura-chan, she's awake!" I heard a voice yell.

_He sounds young, like a teenager. _With some effort, I eeked out another moan. _Words, damnit! Why won't they come? Please, someone tell me what's going on. _As if on cue, I heard a swish of a swinging door and could feel the cool breeze of someone rushing by. Warm hands grasped mine, and seemed to check my pulse.

"Welcome back. I'm Haruno Sakura, the medic-nin in charge of your care."

_Medic-nin? I'm in a ninja village, then. _I opened my mouth again but this time nothing came out.

"Just relax, your voice will return soon. You are undoubtedly feeling the effects of the treatment. You presented with severe burns and smoke inhalation, but you're fine now. You're safe."

_Burns? Smoke inhalation? _Slowly the disjointed memories began to come back to me. Flickers of fire appeared to my mind's eye. The unbearable heat that, at some point, caused my will to fade. A feeling of suffocation overtook me. My eyes popped open of their own accord, now taking in the hospital room. Hazel eyes darted about, in hopes of confirming this "safe" statement the medic-nin made. Upon seeing the words were, in fact, true I tried to make myself relax. Forcing myself to calm the beating of my heart proved easier said than done, especially with the presence of so many people in the room.

My eyes continued to dart about, resting first on a pale, dark haired male who smiled rather eerily at me. _Wow, I didn't know there were completely flaming ninjas! He'd be right at home back in Boys Town. _Next, my gaze fell to a suspicious looking white haired man with half a ski mask over his face. I instantly begin to distrust him and want him to leave. _Isn't it the middle of summer, what's with the ski mask, anyway? _Then I noticed a blue eyed blond kid that was grinning like an idiot. As jumbled as my mind was, I couldn't hold back the smile that lifted the corners of my mouth. _Strange, no one has had that effect on me since, well, my husband. _Finally my eyes focused in on the hand holding mine. Before me stood a pink haired teenager, with wide green eyes. _She can't be a medic. She's still a kid. What is this, Doogie Houser, MD?_

"You're safe now. There's no need to worry. I know that bunch of guys is pretty rag tag looking…"

"Sakura-chan, are you insulting us?"

The medic-nin sighed before continuing. "But they are the ones that rescued you and brought you here for treatment."

_Damn, okay…no more snap decisions about these guys. _I took the time to look back at the group, this time finding Mr. Ski Mask eyeballing a small yellow book with an 'over 18' stamp on the cover. _Perverted bastard…and in public no less. _The blond was now rubbing the hair off the back of his head, but the pale gay kid was smiling that eerie fake smile of his. _Okay. I'm not doing too well with the snap decisions, am I?_

I turned back to face the medic, her brilliant green eyes seemingly appraising my wounds. _Wait a minute. Why don't I feel any pain? What kind of drugs do these people have? And how long can I keep getting them! Yeah, baby!_ Just then a sharp knock sounded against the door followed by the clicking of heels.

"Ah, it seems our patient is awake. I am Senju Tsunade, Hokage of Konohagakure, a commanding blonde said.

_I would not mess with her, she seems pretty intimidating. A female kage, huh. And so young. I think I like this place._

"I hope you don't mind the room full of riff raff, but they sweet talked me into letting them stay until you awakened."

"See, I told you the sake would work," the blond kid attempted to whisper. He failed, and the blonde woman punched him out of my view. "Baa-chan!"

_Damn, she's his grandmother? She looks so young. I guess that explains that much. What kind of drugs do these people have?_

"Oh, keep quiet Naruto."

"How…bad?" _Yes, finally, the words were coming. _Though my voice sounded raspy and toad-like.

"Shh, don't try to talk yet. You inhaled quite a bit of smoke and your throat and lungs will need another day to recover. I'm pleased to say that my apprentice, here," she waved in the young medic's direction. "…has done a fine job healing all of your injuries. In a day or two, you will be better than before the fire."

_Better…than before? How is that possible?_

At the look of my perplexed face, the Hokage's eyes went soft, almost motherly. She appeared to begin telling me what happened when she glanced back at the fruit, the perv, and the goof, and thought better of it.

"Shouldn't you be filing your mission report, Kakashi? I expect all three of you to be in my office in 20 minutes for debriefing."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," said the dark haired one, the fake smile replaced with…blankness.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," said the one called Kakashi, before giving a two-fingered salute.

"Hai, hai, Baa-chan," said the challenged one before running out of the room like a bad little kid avoiding a much deserved spanking.

Once again, I could not hide my smile. _What is it with this, this Naruto, she called him?_

"Anyway, Sakura has healed all of your wounds, even the old injuries from before the fire. In a couple of days you will feel better than you have in several years, I would presume."

_Mm-hmm, that's the 'what' but it still doesn't explain the 'how'. _I could feel my gaze become expectant as I glanced from blonde to pinkette.

"I see you must not be familiar with shinobi medicine and treatment. I am not surprised considering you are a civilian from nowhere near a ninja village. Our medicine is quite…advanced."

_Advanced? Is she joking? I could feel one eyebrow arch._

"Sakura, describe the extent of your treatment to our patient. I need to get back to the office." With that, Tsunada-sama was quickly out of sight.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't know your name. Don't speak, but if you can, please write it out for me," she said handing me her clipboard. I took the clipboard with little difficulty which surprised me considering I couldn't move just minutes before. Grasped the pen connected by a beaded metal chain and wrote my name as legibly as possible.

Sakura looked down at the clipboard and blinked a few times before her head snapped back up at me. "Japanese is not your first language, is it?"

_Oh crap. That's right, I can't write kanji. _I shook my head to confirm her statement.

"Well, that's okay. You'll be able to speak soon enough." The young medic smiled brightly as she recounted the strange treatments that have mended me to mint condition. A condition I haven't been in, in over a decade.

As she went about describing chakra treatments and non-invasive surgeries that not only healed burns but also mended ligaments and internal organs, all I could think was, if only my husband's squad had medics like these. But all we had was a civilian volunteer battalion. _What a shame. _So many lives could have been spared. Perhaps he would have come to me last year as expected. But alas, here I am; alone, not sure if he's alive or dead. _Who am I kidding, it's been a year. If he were alive, he would have met me with the rest of the militia's wives._

I stopped my inner musings just in time to see Sakura frown. "Gomen, Sakura. My mind wanders sometimes," I say in a slightly less froggy voice.

"Hmm, that seemed like more than a little mind wandering. You should rest. I'll be by at the end of my shift to check on you. No more talking, okay?"

I nodded my head in agreement.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Subtitle: A Stranger's Fiery Will**

In the Hokage's office, Kakashi, Naruto and Sai stood lined up in front of Tsunade's desk.

"Alright Kakashi, this better be good. Just what road to life did you manage to get your team lost on that you wound up in that no name village rescuing our still nameless patient?"

The silver haired Jounin chuckled lightly, a whimsical eye crease quickly following. "Actually, we were on our way back to the village after successfully completing our mission when we heard a loud blast off in the distance. We immediately went to investigate and that's when we found the vandals."

"Vandals?"

"Most were defacing property. But there were two who were setting buildings on fire," Sai answered in his normal inflectionless tone. "Kakashi-sempai and I went after them. They were easily subdued."

"Naruto, I suspect you were the one to find her," Tsunade prodded.

"Hai, Baa-chan," the normally exuberant voice now sounded quite solemn. A thin blonde eyebrow was quirked at Naruto's quiet demeanor.

"There were several young women in the building. The screams…she was the only I could get out alive." The young ninja's forehead creased at the memory as his body language revealed a slight tremor. "The first thing I heard were the screams," Naruto recounted. "Then the smell of smoke and ash and something worse filled my nose. It was horrible. I ran into the building as the wind began to fan the flames higher.

Flashback

Dense smoke hung thick and pungent in the entryway. A middle aged woman lay in a heap on the floor, a young child huddled near her but no breath remained in either of them. As the blond quickly made his way through what was apparently a small hotel, he began sweeping the rooms trying to find survivors before the fire could burn their bodies and force his own retreat.

"Is anyone here? If you can hear me, make some noise and let me know you're alive," the blond yelled as he stepped over more corpses.

He entered a room only to find a very pregnant redhead seemingly asleep. _She never knew what hit her. The smoke most likely suffocated her in her sleep, _the blond thought to himself.

"He…he…help," A small voice panted out. Instantly the orange clad ninja was bent over a small girl in a soot stained dress, desperately clinging to life. "Hot," she said.

It was at the moment the blond noticed the heat. The kyuubi's burning chakra was so much more intense that the fire's heat barely registered. But her skin was already blistered and peeling. Scooping her up, he brought her a safe distance away from the hotel before returning to the blaze. Running with chakra induced speed, the nin made his way to the second floor, stepping over several more bodies that succumbed too soon for his help. He noticed that all of the victims were women and children. It was then that a loud crash sounded signifying the loss of the buildings' structural integrity.

End Flashback

A painful grimace wracked Naruto's normally jovial features. "The screams…three women had been trying to get several infants out of the blaze but when the wall collapsed…" Naruto could see the images of the poor babies who never had a chance, as pieces of the building broke their tiny bones. "The woman in the hospital was doing her best to keep that portion of the wall from crushing the baby beneath her. She screamed at me to take the boy in between coughing fits. I grabbed them both from the rubble and rushed outside. The building collapsed and no one still inside survived."

"The child Naruto first brought out was dead before he returned. The baby expired shortly thereafter," Kakashi stated matter-of-factly.

"Hmm, this young woman is stronger than I first thought, especially for a civilian," the Godaime concluded.

"That's good considering the hard road ahead of her," Kakashi mused. "I can't imagine what the loss of a child could do to a young mother."

"The baby wasn't hers," Sakura explained from the back of the room. "I did a thorough exam. She's never given birth," the kunoichi added as she closed the door and made her way to Naruto's side.

_She fought so hard, I thought for sure the boy was her son, _Naruto thought to himself. A small hand made its way to his orange and black clad back. The stress visibly left his shoulders with Sakura's reassuring touch. Something not missed by either of the adults in the room.

"Sakura," Tsunade asked. "How long until our patient is able to speak?"

"Her voice is returning quickly but her throat is still rough. Um, also, Japanese isn't her first language. I asked her to write her name," at that moment she produced the sheet of paper from earlier and handed it to her mentor.

"Hm," Tsunade scrutinized the script. "Kakashi, have you ever seen anything like this," she asked, passing the piece of paper to the Jounin.

Hatake took the scrap of paper with seemingly little interest as he halfway examined it. "I can't say that I know the language, but I may know someone who does."

"It is probably of little consequence. She is definitely a civilian and people who move to other countries are not that rare. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon we will have some answers. Dismissed."

Once outside the Hokage tower, Kakashi disappeared into a puff of smoke. Naruto was still uncharacteristically solemn, as he turned in the direction of his home and even Sai was becoming concerned for his teammate.

"Naruto, I have to finish my shift. Do you mind if I stopped by later," Sakura called after him.

The blond genin didn't even answer, just shrugged his shoulders as he continued on his way.

"Kuso," Sakura swore under her breath.

"It would appear that Naruto is pretty bad off right now, especially if you resort to foul language."

"I think Naruto is questioning how an absolute stranger could fight so hard for a baby that wasn't even hers. While no one in this village seemed to do more than act civil toward him while cursing him behind his back. He was orphaned at birth, you know. Yet, I think he feels like no one really gave a damn about him, ever, in his younger days."

"Shit."

"Yeah," Sakura concurred, then flinched as her newest teammate laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It will be okay. You'll help him. You always do," Sai said before taking his leave. Then calling over his shoulder, he added, "if I were you, I would see about dickless as soon as possible, huh, ugly?"

_Just when I think that retard is making progress, _Sakura thought with a smirk.

The sun was beginning to set when Sakura knocked on Naruto's door. "Naruto," she called. "Naruto?" Tired of waiting, her shift had been a long one, she twisted the knob to find the door unlocked. _Oh, I guess he knew I was on my way. _Stepping inside and removing her sandals, Sakura craned her neck to survey the damage that was Naruto's place. _No damage control needed. _Everything was neat and in order, surprisingly. _Maybe he's taking things better than I thought._

But that was when she heard it. The light sobs that she recognized from after their last failed attempt to retrieve Sasuke. As upbeat as her best friend normally was, she was all too aware of how his self esteem wavered precariously from time to time. As much as he'd been through in his 15 years of life, there were only so many fake smiles that he could muster. Eventually, even Naruto would crack.

With a speed even Sakura didn't realize she possessed, she was at her teammate's side, cradling his head to her shoulder and wiping gently at his tear soaked face. "Naruto, I can only imagine how much all of this hurts. You have such a big heart and you hold all the pain in, and have so many of us fooled. But, you know what? I recognize when your smile doesn't reach your eyes. You don't have to always be so strong."

"Sa-Sa-ku-kura-ch-chan," was all he could get out before a fresh set of tears spilled forth and new sobs wracked through him.

"Naruto-kun, that's it," she spoke oh so gently. "Let it out. Let it all out," she said while stoking his wild blond hair.

To Naruto, it seemed as though her sweet words broke down any tiny bit of resolve he had left. Wrapping his arms around her, as if she were the very breath of life, Naruto clung to the kunoichi. And then, she did what came natural to her in this situation; she kissed the top of his head, began humming a soothing tune, and rocked him, gently.

"Sakura-chan, wh-what are y-you doing?" Tears dried on his face as he began to pull away.

"I-I was just trying to comfort you," Sakura said, a bit shocked at his reaction. _He isn't used to being so close to someone, so vulnerable with someone. _"I'm sorry, Naruto. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," she said, lowering her gaze.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto spoke as he removed himself from her embrace. Standing, he cupped her cheek in his large hand and smiled down at her with the most sincere smile she'd seen on him in ages. "Don't be sorry. It isn't your fault."

"Still…I should've known better, we are teammates after all." Sakura began picking herself up off the floor when she found Naruto's strong hands on her arms, helping her up. She looked up just in time to see her best friend, her teammate biting his lip and gazing upon her in the most loving way. The intensity of those blue eyes was startling.

"Sakura-chan, you're an angel, you know that? I don't know how you've put up with us. The Teme has no idea the precious gem he left behind. You've had to put up with an emo, a perv, a social retard, and a basket case. And you do it with a smile," he said incredulously.

Sakura hid the internal flinch at the reference to Sasuke. Truth was, she really hadn't figured out how to exorcise the pain he'd left her with. "Whatever," Sakura said, a bit confused and trying to get passed the awkward feeling Naruto's words gave her. "You guys are my teammates, my friends. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure you're all alright. And that Naruto, is all thanks to you. You've inspired a lot of us. Just one step closer to becoming Hokage, I suppose."

Naruto visibly blushed at her compliment. Rubbing the back of his blond head, he sputtered as he attempted to find his words, causing the pink haired kunoichi to inwardly giggle.

"Well, Naruto, I'd better be on my way." As Sakura moved passed her teammate to head to the door, a curious thing happened. Something that made her head spin and caused her to feel completely surreal.

As two tanned arms found themselves around her trim waist, she clearly heard Naruto's voice say something to her. Warm ramen-scented breath played against the nape of her neck triggering an unintentional shudder. It took several moments for her head to clear only to replay Naruto's words. The first word, however had a certain Sharingan users voice superimposed over Naruto's.

"Arigato, Sakura-chan."

One little word was all it took, and she was right back in the moment that Sasuke had quickly stepped behind her. Replaying the feel of his breath against her neck and his nearness to her seemed to bring with it all the preteen angst and pain that the Uchiha put her through. The only difference was that she would not be knocked unconscious this time.

"Gomen, Naruto, but I really should be going." Sakura was a blur of pink as she wrenched her way out of the blond's embrace, grabbed her shoes and was out the door.

Thus leaving a thoroughly befuddled Naruto to realize, _I'm just never gonna understand girls._


End file.
